Arrivals, Returns, & Departures - 03/15/2012

Hello TV Ragers, and welcome to your semi-regular update on all the pilots, renewals, and cancellations that have taken place since the last issue was published. Let's get right to it with:

ARRIVALS (Pilots Ordered)

Vikings, History Channel - "Vikings follows the adventures of Ragnar Lothbrok, an actual historical figure, and the greatest hero of his age. The series tells the gripping sagas of Ragnar’s band of Viking brothers and his family, as he rises to become King of the Viking tribes. As well as being a fearless warrior, Ragnar embodies the Norse traditions of devotion to the gods – legend has it that he was a direct descendent of Odin, the god of war and warriors."

RETURNS (Series Renewals)

2 Broke Girls, CBS, Season 2 - "2 Broke Girlsis a comedy which follows two young women, played by Beth Behrs and Kat Dennings, and their job at a greasy spoon diner. While working together, they strike up an unlikely friendship with hopes of starting up a successful business. However, there is one problem, they don't have any money. The two women come from two different worlds. For one, Max has to work two jobs just to make ends meet and for the other, Caroline is a sophisticated uptown trust fund princess who is now forced to give working as a waitress a shot after and "run of bad luck". While working, they meet some interesting characters."

America's Most Wanted, Lifetime, 20 New Episodes Ordered - John Walsh, the AMW crew, and American itself has been putting bad guys behind bars for nearly 25 years now, and it shows no signs of stopping any time in the foreseeable future. It's survived two cancellations and a network jump so far, who knows just how long this show will catching crooks.

Mike & Molly, CBS, Season 3 - "Mike & Molly is a comedy from Chuck Lorre about a working class Chicago couple who find love at an Over Eaters Anonymous meeting. Officer Mike Biggs is a good-hearted cop who sincerely wants to lose weight. While speaking at an O.A. meeting, Mike meets Molly Flynn, an instantly likeable fourth-grade teacher with a healthy sense of humor about her curves."

NCIS, CBS, Season 10 - This Mark Harmon fronted crime procedural is the highest rated scripted series on television and thus needs no introduction from me. The show is powering into it's 10th anniversary wih ratings that continue to be solid as a rock and was the definition of a no-brainer renewal for CBS. And to think the show started as a spin-off of JAG.

DEPARTURES (Cancellations and End Dates)

Luck, HBO, Canceled During Production Of Season 2 - I covered this story in depth as it developed over the past few days here and here. Suffice to say I'm kind of happy it's over. I was running out of luck based puns to use.

And that's all for this edition. Don't forget to keep checking future A,R,&D updates in the coming weeks. The closer we get to the April network upfronts and May sweeps, the more we'll be inundated with shows being dropped, picked up, and brought back. See you next time.